BERLIN, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Ulrich Stroeher, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Berlin Heart, today announced that Dr. Johannes Mueller is leaving the general management of the company on 30 September 2009.

Dr. Mueller belongs to the company's founders and is one of the intellectual fathers of the successful ventricular assist device INCOR®. He will continue to contribute his wealth of experience in this area as coordinator for projects with external cooperation partners. He will further support the company in developing new markets.

Dr. Mueller was a member of the general management from the very beginning when the company was founded as a start-up enterprise with venture capital in 1996. In October 2006 Berlin Heart AG was acquired by Syscore GmbH and the legal structure was changed to GmbH. Today Berlin Heart has 220 employees and is one of the three worldwide leading medical device companies in the area of mechanical heart support.

On 1 October 2009 Dr. Stefan Thamasett will join the general management of Berlin Heart. Dr. Thamasett has more than seven years of experience in clinical cardiology and possesses long-standing experience as head of marketing and sales in well-known medical device companies. He will manage the company together with Dr. Dirk Lauscher, the company's present General Manager.

About Berlin Heart

Berlin Heart is the only company worldwide that develops, produces, and distributes implantable and external ventricular assist devices for patients of every age and body size. The products EXCOR® and INCOR® provide mechanical support of the heart for patients suffering from severe end-stage heart failure. The ventricular assist device EXCOR® Pediatric is used in infants, children, and teenagers and is leading the worldwide market. EXCOR® Pediatric is currently under clinical investigation for pediatric patients in USA. All other products are not approved in USA. Further information on the Berlin Heart products is available under: http://www.berlinheart.com